Crew and remaining passengers fly out of Tenerife after hantavirus-hit cruise

The final group of passengers and crew from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship have departed Tenerife for the Netherlands, where they will undergo quarantine. The evacuation completes a complex 41-day operation that saw 94 people repatriated after the outbreak on the MV Hondius.

Leonardo Benassatto, Mariana Hernandez/Reuters

12 May 2026 at 02:20:31

Crew and remaining passengers fly out of Tenerife after hantavirus-hit cruise

Passengers from the cruise ship MV Hondius, which was affected by a hantavirus outbreak, board a plane flying to the Netherlands, at Tenerife Sur airport, Canary Islands, Spain, May 11, 2026.

Pedro Nunes/Reuters

The last six passengers and several crew members from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship left the Spanish island of Tenerife by plane on Monday (May 11), travelling to the Netherlands where they will be quarantined.

The remaining passengers — four Australians, one Briton who lives in Australia and a New Zealander – plus nineteen crew members and three doctors who treated passengers departed for the Netherlands on two different flights.

The disembarkation caps a complex operation that has so far resulted in 94 people being evacuated and repatriated to their countries of residence, 41 days after the MV Hondius set off from southern Argentina and nine days after the first positive test result for the respiratory viral infection.

-Leonardo Benassatto, Mariana Hernandez/Reuters